speed and freedom
by shadica225
Summary: set after my story international love also a sonic free riders adaptaion *IS NOW COMPLETE**
1. the world grand prix

(jess' pov)

It was a week since we had come back from the Olympic games in london, having spent a whole month there. When we had gotten back, word had gotten out about yet another world grand prix, and competitors from all around had come to compete in the races.

I stood waiting at the dolphin resort city, a really beautiful place. I waited for the races to begin, wanting to see who was competing. Just then, a nearby monitor blinked on, showing a man in a rather fancy red coat, imbedded with large jewels.

"ho ho ho ho! Greetings, world! Another grand prix is set to begin! Your host, as always, is doc- er…that's rignt, KING doc! Of, uh…toreggmania! So, if you think you're fast, grab an extreme gear and come prove it! the winning team gets a disgustingly large cash prize…and a mid-sized mountain of treasure. Just don't expect it to be easy! You'll be racing across the world, through hill and dale, from simple circuits to challenges of mind-numbing complexity! If you want to know more…come see for yourself! Ooh, and the opening ceremony's about to begin! Don't be late!"

'_I swear, he looks and sounds kindda familiar…'_ I thought to myself as he walked off and omochao appeared on screen.

"did you folks hear that? Big news! There's no WAY you can pass up a challenge this juicy! So hurry up, grab those extreme gears, and c'mon down! And I'll see YOU at the races!"

The screen flickered off, and I turned my gaze back to the racing circuit in this city, and I walked off, heading to meet the racers.


	2. dolphin resort

(jess' pov)

When I got to the racing circuit in dolphin resort city, I watched as omochao had just arrived, and with a camera crew so the many viewers at home could also watch the world grand prix. _'man, they're really going all out for the world grand prix this year…'_

"hey, omochao!" I greeted, as the robotic chao turned and flew over to me.

"Jessica! It's good to see you again! How are things with the others?"

"oh, just fine." I answered, smiling. "you mind if I join you in hosting this world grand prix?"

"not at all! Let's get started!" we both turned to the camera crew, and a few seconds later, they signaled for us to start as the cameras recorded us live for the viewers at home to watch.

"ladies and gentlemen, the world grand prix is finally set to begin! Once again, we've got every speed freak, gear head, powerhouse and ace racer from all over the world here to compete! And bringing it all to you live, I'm omochao, your eyes in the sky, here with a very good friend of mine, Jessica!"

"hey there, world!" I greeted to the cameras, smiling and sharing a wave as well.

"the opening ceremony's just come to a close, and the riders are lining up for the first race! Ooh, and here's team heroes now, hitting the track right on time! Let's try to snag an interview before the race!" omochao continued, turning to the team who had just arrived at the starting line.

Looking closer at the team of three, I couldn't help but smile when I recognized them. I followed omochao and the camera crew as we all walked over to the team.

"so, how are you guys feeling today?" omochao asked the team as the three of them turned to face omochao.

I recognized each member easily- the first was knuckles, his purple-shaded goggles hung around his neck. Around his wrists over his gloves were small black bracelets, one on each wrist. His shoes had a different design, yet the same colors as his other shoes.

The second was tails, a pair of aviator goggles resting on his head. His shoes were also different, having two white straps on top of each one, with a golden square buckle on both ends of each strap. On each of his wrists, he also had a black bracelet on each one. The ankle bracelet on each of his shoes were a silvery grey, and the white cuffs from his shoes went just past his ankles, a red square on the front of them.

The last, of course, was sonic. I couldn't help but stare as he turned to me and omochao, marveling over his extreme gear riding outfit- something I hadn't noticed before until now.

He too, had black bracelets, one on each wrist, along with a pair of green-shaded sunglasses resting on his head. His shoes reminded me of boots almost, but the cuffs weren't as high. His shoes were red, of course, and he also had two white straps on each one of his shoes, a square gold buckle on both ends of each strap. The soles were white, and had a small patch of emerald green on the front, and like I said, the cuffs barely passed his ankles, and were pure red with a strip of white. The red on his shoes was almost like a ruby red, sparkling and shining in the sun.

While I took note of all this, I realized (and I REALLY couldn't help but think this) that to me right now, sonic looked incredibly handsome in his extreme gear outfit, and I felt a hot blush coming to my cheeks.

"feelin' good! I'm looking forward to seeing the sights as I tear through such a beautiful town." Sonic replied.

"just make sure you take enough time to tune up your gear, okay, sonic?" tails said. "You always leave all the tech work to me."

"heh, well of course! I know you'll do it better than anybody else!" sonic replied.

"ugh, how long are they gonna make us wait? All this pent up energy is making me itch! Come on, let's do this thing!"

'_oh, knuckles…..'_

"hang in there, knuckles. Though is it just me, or does this race seem fishy?" tails wondered aloud.

"smells more like egg than fish to me. He should just come out and challenge us! I'll take him on anytime!" sonic continued.

"team heroes sure is brimming with confidence!" I remarked, turning back to the cameras with omochao.

"now let's go check with the opposing team!" omochao said as me and him headed over to where the other team was, and the team was none other than team rose, which was amy, cream, and vector.

"wow, sonic's here, too? What a coincidence! No- this must be fate!"

I sighed. Amy was like a sister to me, but she was a bit….how you'd say, scatter-brained, most days. She knew that me and sonic were together, and she didn't want to get in between that. That still didn't stop her from trying to flirt with him, though. She still liked him, but knew I liked him, too, so she didn't chase the poor guy as much, yet she still did from time to time.

Vector rolled his eyes after amy's remark. "keh, you're a terrible actress…we all know you followed him here!"

"I don't recall asking YOU! Now shush, would you?" amy said, a bit steamed by vector's response.

"hello, mr. sonic, mr. tails, mr. knuckles!" cream greeted. "may the best team win! ooh, but please go easy on us!"

"…wait, we're going up against THEM? Seriously?" sonic asked, sighing.

"at least it'll be a good race!" tails encouraged.

Knuckles outright laughed at this, then playfully sighed. "you've gotta be kidding me. This won't even count as a warm-up, man!"

"between team heroes' confidence and team rose's eagerness, we're in for a treat today! Now, let's watch the race!" omochao continued.


	3. the first race

(sonic's pov)

All of us were at the starting line for the race, all of us on our extreme gear and ready to race. When we were signaled to start our extreme gear, we all slowly flew towards the start, waiting for the electric gate to go down. Once I knew that the gate was less than a second from going down, I did a kick dash to the start and shot through, the electric gate disappearing right before I went through, so I shot past the starting line and took the lead.

I rode my extreme gear down the slope and saw a ramp at the top. I waited until I was just on the edge of the ramp to jump, letting the breeze carry me a bit as I jumped.

I landed shortly after, feeling the soft spray of the ocean in the air around me. I turned down the path and flew down the next part of the course, which was the main plaza of the dolphin resort.

Once in there, I saw a nearby rail and grinded along it, increasing my speed as I did so. Once I was back on the ground, I speed down the course, and saw yet another grinding rail in the part of the course that was just a see through glass tube that was underwater. Once I had reached the end of the glass tube, some mechanical doors opened, revealing another ramp.

Jumping off the ramp, I spun around in the air on my feet a bit before doing a handstand, grabbing the edges of my board and continuing to spin, my legs twisting with me as I spun. I got back onto my feet on my board before I landed on the ground, and made a pretty awesome landing if I do say so myself.

Flying down the last part of the course, I jumped off yet another ramp and looked to where the last part of the course was, and where I was going to land. And what I saw was a tube of water, which led to the finish.

'_water? Aw, man…'_ I thought as I landed in the water, and started swimming as best as I could to the finish. Let's just say I'm sure glad I was way in the lead, because what with my lack of skill in swimming, it took a little while to get to the end. But I managed to get to the end, and a hopped back on my extreme gear as I sped past the finish line, placing first in the race.

"sweet!" I looked back to see the others soon crossing the finish line, showing the end of the first part of the first race.


	4. enter team dark

(jess' pov)

The first part of the race had come to an end, and team heroes was in the lead already.

"yeesh, sonic! Would it have killed you to go a little easy out there?" amy asked, her tone seeming a bit harsh.

"hey, this is a serious competition, amy." Sonic replied, seeming either bored or annoyed- which he really was, I couldn't tell you.

"chivalry is serious business, too! I'm a LADY!"

"hey, guys…back me up on this, would you?" sonic asked, turning to me, tails, and knuckles.

"you know that sonic never holds back, amy. I thought you liked that about him?" I asked, giggling slightly on the last part.

"but me and you are supposed to be the only exceptions!" amy replied, still a bit upset.

Behind me, I could hear knuckles sigh. "…exceptionally dense."

"forget this talk about going easy, we'll beat you guys next time!" vector said, him also looking a bit on edge.

"I really look forward to racing with all of you again!" cream said, looking as happy as could be.

(one race later….)

After the last race between team rose was over, team heroes came out on top and won, and amy was more mad than ever now.

"ooh! It's all your fault we lost, sonic! You'd better make it up to me be taking me out tonight- you owe me!" amy said, her hands on her hips.

…okay, this girl's going TOO far now. Amy, you are like a sister to me, but if you keep trying to score a date with my boyfriend, things aren't going to be so pretty.

"wait, why do I owe you a date for winning a race?" sonic asked, and from his expression, he looked rather uncomfortable talking about this.

"you guys are so amazing! We'll have to start practicing harder than ever, now! Cream praised.

"dang it! my reward money is slipping away!" vector exclaimed, also mad about their loss.

"congratulations! Can we get a comment on your stellar victory?" omochao asked, flying over to sonic, knuckles, and tails.

"well…by the time we stopped to look around, it was over and we'd already won." Tails replied.

"if we let a little victory like this go to our heads, we're done for." Knuckles continued.

On a transmission screen held by one of the camera crew members, an image of shadow appeared on screen, him and team dark at the course in frozen forest.

"heh, agreed. I'd suggest you beat us before getting excited." Shadow said, agreeing with knuckles' statement.

"why don't you boys spare us all the effort and just head home now? That prize purse and treasure are coming back with us." Rouge continued.

"so…who's the last member of team dark?" I asked, noticing that they were the only ones there, and that they didn't have three team members.

"uh-oh…the little dear's run off again." walking off for a second, rouge came back with a small, blue and grey robot. "there he is! He might not look it, but he packs quite a punch!"

"hmmmm…is it just me, or does that robot look more than a little familiar?" omochao wondered aloud. "well, anyway, I'm sure we're all in for another heart-pounding race!"

After that, we all set out to frozen forest, heading off to the next race.


	5. the strange case of the E10000 robot

(jess' pov)

After the first race with team dark at frozen forest, I saw knuckles walk over to the robot from team dark, and knuckles did not look too happy.

"hey! Robot! Just what are you up to?"

"hmph. Don't blame your own poor performance on my teammate." Shadow said, defending the robot.

'_poor performance? His team just beat you!'_ I thought to myself.

Knuckles also seemed surprised by this. "what'd you say?"

"now, now, let's all stay calm here!" I said, trying to calm down knuckles before a full-out brawl broke out. "there's no need for fighting, you guys."

"I know what I saw! He was making these weird clicking sounds and moving around all funny-like!" knuckles replied.

"you say there was foul play?" omochao said, obviously shocked by this. "if so, this is a very serious problem! Alright, let's roll back the tape!" we watched over the tape from the race just now, and, even though I really hated to admit this, none of us saw anything strange during the race.

"hmm…I'm not picking up any strange sounds here. Are you sure?" omochao asked knuckles.

I turned to sonic and tails, and from their looks, I could tell they didn't see anything strange, either.

"…neither of us heard anything either, knuckles." Tails said.

"you sure you're not just imagining things, buddy?" sonic asked.

"tch! Just watch it. I've got my eyes on you…" knuckles said to the robot, obviously still not too trustworthy towards it.

"why would we cheat, anyway? This is going to be a breeze for us." Rouge said.

"well, just keep it above board, would ya'?"

While all this was said, I looked over at the robot on team dark, and he looked like he was close to burning out._ 'dude, that robot doesn't look so hot…'_

"please….you must…allow me…to rest…!" the robot gasped.

"you're not nearly as tough as you look, are you?" rouge questioned to the robot.

"well, for a random robot we picked up off the street, I'd say he's doing pretty well." shadow noted, not seeming the least bit interested.

"condition critical….maintenance required…." As the robot spoke, smoke started to pour out of him, and I grew a bit worried._ 'they're working him into the ground!'_

"is he alright? He's not going to break down, is he?" tails asked, also worried about the robot's condition.

"if he does, he's getting canned." Rouge replied.

"what? But that's horrible! He's your teammate, isn't he?" tails said, shocked with what rouge had said.

"these two aren't the type to understand team loyalty, tails." Knuckles said, looking over at team dark.

"I'll put an end to this with the next round." Sonic said. "he can get plenty of rest after that."

"I'll put an end to YOU. Now let's be done with this!" shadow replied.

(one race later…)

I can't believe I'm saying this, but…team dark actually won the next race. They won against team heroes! I kept asking myself 'how?'. But all of that stopped when I saw their robot surrounded in smoke, showing it was in even worse condition now.

"hey, you alright? Hold it together!" shadow ordered the robot.

"his timing's just great." Rouge said sarcastically. "we're already almost at the finals!"

"you really should let that robot rest, you two!" I said.

"I can relate to wanting to win, believe me." Knuckles started. "but it's not worth sacrificing a teammate!"

"I don't see why you're getting all worked up here. He's a machine. so he spews a little smoke!" rouge said, shrugging it off.

"I'd hardly call that a LITTLE!" sonic said, gesturing to the robot, who was almost not visible at all in the smoke that came out of it.

Just then, we all heard a loud clang. Turning, we saw the robot sprawled out on the ground, still shrouded in smoke.

" oh no! team dark's robot needs medical- err, tech support, STAT!" omochao said as we all rushed over to the broken down robot.

"hey, doesn't this disqualify them?" tails asked omochao.

"…according to the rules, yes." Omochao replied. "the team is disqualified if a member drops out."

"just a minute- I won that race!" shadow said, his anger clearly showing.

"that's correct. According to the rules, team dark did win." I said.

"of course! The race would have gone just the same whether that junk heap was here or not." Rouge replied.

"that's a terrible thing to say about your own teammate!" tails said to rouge.

"the race is over. We're not teammates anymore, kid." Rouge replied.

"if you don't believe us, let's go again. This victory will be in honor of our fallen comrade." Shadow said.

"sounds sensible enough to me." Rouge said, shrugging. "so what's it going to be, darlings?"

"alright, you're on! Let's see you try!" sonic replied.

"we'll show you what a team that actually cares about each other can do!" knuckles nodded.

"in the meantime, let's get this robot some help, omochao!" I said, still knelt next to the robot.

"alright, I'll sent him back to HQ for repairs while me and you cover the race! Does that work for everyone?" omochao asked, looking around at everyone.

"we're ready. Just say the word and it's on." Shadow replied.

"why wait? Let's do it!" sonic said.

"ok I've just got word back from HQ! they'll allow a 2-on-3 race, and acknowledge the winner of this round as the finalists!" omochao said, signaling the start of the last race.

(one race later…)

After the next race, team heroes won, beating team dark.

"ugh. We lost to THEM?" shadow growled, not too happy with his team's loss. "this is ridiculous…"

"you boys weren't half bad out there. It hurts to say it, but at this rate, you might just win the championship!" rouge continued.

"well, that's what we came here to do!" tails replied.

"just be careful, or I might decide to run off with the cash prize and treasure before you have a chance to collect!" rouge said, smirking.

"that's the only part of this you actually care about, isn't it?" knuckles asked, sighing.

On a transmission screen held by one of the camera crew members, two very familiar figures appeared on screen at the finals. _'wave and jet…'_

"and just exactly what's wrong with being in it for the treasure, hmm?" wave questioned.

"regardless of why we're here, this grand prix is ours, sonic the hedgehog!" jet continued.

"not happening, punks! If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get!" knuckles said.

"jet! Why am I not surprised to see you in the finals?" sonic questioned, sighing.

"I hope the fastest thing on land upped his game a bit." Jet continued, smirking.

Storm then appeared behind jet, looking rather determined. "it's time we finally settled this food! Er, I mean feud?...yeah, that." Strom said, looking slightly confused after that.

"wow, tripped over a monosyllabic word, storm. Good for you…" wave replied sarcastically, shaking her head.

"sparks are flying from both team heroes and team Babylon, and the race hasn't even begun yet!" omochao noted.

"I'm eager to see how this epic food plays out! I-I mean feud!" I said, correcting myself. "man, now storm's got me doing it…." I muttered under my breath.


	6. the race against team babylon

(jess' pov)

"your gear is still as amazing as ever, wave!" tails praised after the first race had finished.

"is that supposed to be sarcasm, shrimp?" wave asked harshly, not realizing that tails actually meant what he said.

"wh-what? No! I didn't mean it like that!" tails stammered.

"well, a loss is still a loss. It looks like you're starting to get a rudimentary grip on the gear yourself." Wave continued, her tone less harsh and cold now.

"don't let her get to you." Knuckles said to tails once wave headed back over to jet and storm. "it takes a lot more than just gear specs to win a race."

"wow, you guys got good at this. If we ain't careful, you really might win the championship!" storm said.

"ugh, the both of you are useless! Looks like I'm going to have to get serious if we want to win this!" jet said, looking a bit annoyed by the fact him and his team just might lose.

"how about you get serious and just admit that we've got you beat, jet!" knuckles said, laughing slightly.

"the competition's just getting started! Let's go, sonic the hedgehog!" jet continued.

"hey, I'm ready when you are!" sonic replied, smirking.

(one race later…..)

Team heroes had just won the championship. Or so it seemed…

"congratulations on your amazing victory! Leave it to team heroes to never disappoint their fan base! Can I get a comment for all the folks watching at home?" omochao asked, flying over to the three.

"too easy! That was a piece of cake!" sonic said, smirking.

"jet's probably off crying someplace right about now." Knuckles added, laughing a bit.

Jet was actually nearby with wave, and he paid no attention to knuckles' comment, seeing as he was angry at his loss against sonic, and was currently arguing with wave.

"what the heck was that, wave?" he snapped. "did you even tune our gear before the race?" he asked, gesturing to his board that was in his hands.

"the specs should've been totally optimized…." She trailed off, wondering what went wrong.

"yeah, well, halfway through the race, I started losing power!" jet replied.

"that shouldn't be possible…" wave said.

"well it ain't the boss' fault! If he says he lost because of you, it's 'cause of you!" storm said as he walked over to the two.

"nobody asked you! Now hush a minute, I'm thinking." Wave said, shooing storm away.

"it sounds like team Babylon had some tech trouble out on the track. Hmm…I smell a scandal in here somewhere! Let's get the details!" omochao said before me and him walked over to wave, who had jet's board in her hands and was looking over the gears and wiring.

"if you like, I could take a look at your gear, maybe help see what went wrong with them?" tails offered as he walked over to wave.

"keep your mitts off!" she said, keeping him away. Looking back at the gears in jet's board, she gasped, then looked crestfallen. "I'm sorry. It seems the radiator module on the core unit got shaken loose."

"but who is that-? And why NOW, during THIS race?" jet said.

"sounds like this calls for a rematch." Sonic said, walking over to face jet.

"tch…if we lost, we lost. Just know that you guys got lucky this time!" jet said, folding his arms and turning away from sonic.

"but it was mechanical trouble that slowed you up, right? That shouldn't count!" sonic continued.

This caught jet's attention, and he looked back over at sonic. "you sure you want to risk a rematch? I promise you right now you'll regret it." jet replied.

"hey, you're the one who stands to lose his excuse!" sonic said, chuckling slightly.

"whoa! Sounds like we've got a revenge rematch match on our hands, folks! Will rage drive team Babylon to victory this time? Don't anybody blink, because this is going to be great!" omochao said, readying for the rematch.


	7. could we be drifting apart?

(jess' pov)

I watched as sonic crossed the finish line first, beating jet in their rematch race, and I sighed. Oh, don't get me wrong, I was happy sonic won, but…throughout this whole grand prix, it felt as if sonic didn't even notice I was here half the time. It felt as if we were drifting apart, and I didn't know what to do. I wanted him to hold me in his arms, to be able to just stay together, like how we were on that first day we were together. But that was nine months ago, and now, it felt as if we were just friends and nothing more…

I snapped my head up when I saw omochao announcing the winners of the race to the people watching at home. "yeowch! That race was white hot! I could feel the heat, even from here! This time around, we've got an undisputed winner! Now, let's see if we can get a word from our new champs!" he said, gesturing the three to walk over. "how's it feel?" he asked once they had walked up to us.

"heh, it feels incredible!" sonic said, spinning around happily a bit.

"I'm finally feeling more confident working with extreme gear!" tails nodded.

"I had a good time, too." Knuckles continued. "I always do when I get the chance to shut that jet punk up."

"speaking of, how's jet taking it?" sonic wondered aloud.

"uh…the three of them already left for home. But we still may be able to get them on for a comment! Let's try to track them down!" omochao said, and we all set out to find the Babylon rouges. After a minute of walking, we found them walking off towards the magma rift exit.

"Waugh! Boss, there's a camera followin' after us!" storm said, taking notice of us. Jet and wave instantly turned to us and the camera crew.

"ugh, what do you people want?" wave said, sighing and rolling her eyes. "was there really any need to follow us?"

"hey, jet! Thanks for the great race! I had fun!" sonic said, grabbing jet's attention.

"yeah, well there's gonna be payback for this." Jet growled, turning away from the hedgehog. "you just wait, sonic the hedgehog!"

"man, I'll look forward to that!" sonic replied, smiling.

"and it's a surprisingly sportsmanlike finish between these two rivals!...thought I get the feeling the feud between them is just getting started! I can't wait for the next race that brings these two powerhouses together. Until that day, this is omochao, signing off. Bye!"

(at dolphin resort…)

We all headed back to the dolphin resort, waiting for the other teams to arrive so that the awards ceremony could start. Looking at the crowd of spectators, I saw six familiar faces walk over to us….

"jayden, mia, Emily, keven, mike, Antonio! What are you all doing here?" I asked, happy to see them.

"we came to watch your friends race, and man was it awesome!" Antonio replied.

"yeah man, epic racing!" mike nodded.

"congrats on winning the grand prix, you three." Jayden said, shaking hands with team heroes.

"thanks! it sure is good to see you six again!" tails replied.

"we heard about the grand prix, and we knew you guys would be here, so we came to watch you!" Emily said.

"thanks for coming, guys!" I thanked again. These six were such great friends. They really were.


	8. the true plan

(sonic's pov)

We were at some kind of factory, all of us being told that awards ceremony was there. Everyone was there- my team, jet's team, shadow's team, and amy's team (jayden and his team left shortly after we spoke with them at the dolphin resort). To me, I swear, the factory looked kindda familiar…..

"nice work out there, racers!" omochao said, grabbing all of our attention. "now it's time for the big awards ceremony you've all been waiting for! Presenting the prizes, our host king doc, on his way here with a pile of cash! Ooh, and here he is now!" omochao continued, turning to the man walking towards us. It was that 'king doc' guy he mentioned, and looking at him, I thought of one thing:

Really, eggman? This is your saddest attempt yet.

"ohh oh oh oh oh! Well, everyone? I trust you found my grand prix a suitable challenge? Unfortunately, none of the viewers at home did! They've written in clamoring for more extreme competition. And so, I took the liberty of constructing the ultimate gear-jockey robot. Ready for the REAL finals?" he asked.

"whaaat? That's not fair!" amy complained. "nobody said anything about this!"

" 'ultimate gear-jockey'? please!" jet said, rolling his eyes. "I'll prove that wrong here and now!"

"dirty tricks, and that voice….i should've known, doctor." Shadow said, facing king doc.

"er, who's that? I'm doc, king of tor-"

"ha! The jig's up, eggman!" I interrupted. "why don't you just drop the act?"

"because I'm king doc, you spiny twerp!" king doc snapped. "now shut up and race! Or don't you want a mountain of cash and/or treasure?"

"I hope for your sake that's not ANOTHER lie." Vector said, looking just as unconvinced as the rest of us.

"wait, weren't you out of commission?" jess asked, and we turned to see that she was asking this to none other than the robot from when we raced team dark. _'hey….jess is right. I thought that thing was scrapped metal!'_

"this whole thing smells fishy…" I said, also confused.

"wait, king doc is really ? that….actually explains a lot. But hey, who am I to question these things? In any case, I'm sure everything will be clear by the end of this new, FINAL final round!" omochao continued.

(one race later….)

We all beat the robot in the race, though I've gotta admit, it seemed a bit too easy….

"hah, he wanted to call that scrap metal the fastest gear-jockey? Pffft!" jet laughed, rolling his eyes.

"for a grand prix host, he doesn't know much about extreme gear, does he?" wave wondered.

"now, let's see that cash!" storm said. "where's all the treasure at?"

"don't tell me he split to try to get out of paying?" rouge said after a moment of silence.

"now that you mention it, I don't see him." Shadow said, looking around.

"ohh ho ho ho!"

Turing to the laugh, we all saw none other than , walking out from the shadows in his extreme gear attire. That when I realized that the reason why this 'factory' was so familiar was because it was eggman's factory and fortress.

"final come clean, huh, eggman?" I asked.

"you fools had no idea I was using E-10000 to record your racing data! You played right into my trap! I've plugged your combined data into this custom gear, creating the fastest rig ever to exist!" eggman replied.

"so THAT was his game with all this sneaking around…." Knuckles realized.

"guess you weren't just paranoid after all, knuckles!" tails said.

"this is a lame stunt, even for you, eggman." I sighed.

"well, how about it? are any of you brave and stupid enough to challenge me?" eggman questioned, looking over each and every one of us.

"any day of the week!" jess said.

"cheaters never prosper!" cream agreed.

"I didn't come this far just to go home broke!" vector continued.

"ho ho ho ho! Then you're all in, are you?" eggman continued. "get ready to learn who's really the world's fastest now!"

"so…are THESE the finals, then?" jess wondered, seeming confused. "how many rounds of this are there?"

"anyway, let's see who's the real, real, REAL champion! It's still anyone's game out there!" omochao continued.

(one race later….)

We beat the robot that had joined team dark yet again (I had gotten first in the race), and yet it STILL felt like it was too easy to beat him…

"how? HOW could I possibly lose?" eggman said, clearly not too happy. "the blasted data I collected didn't help in the slightest!"

"ah ha ha! Are you sure you didn't enter it wrong?" tails laughed.

"…his robot WAS spewing out a lot of smoke…." Shadow said, lost in thought. Looking over at the robot, I saw that it was spewing out a bit of smoke, but it didn't seem like a whole lot of smoke to me….

"now that you mention it, it did a look more than a little shaky." Rouge agreed.

"you call yourself a genius, and you can't identify the problem?" wave wondered, speaking to eggman.

"maybe you'd better walk him through it, wave." Jet said, snickering slightly.

"yeah, and grab that data while you're at it!" storm agreed.

"what use could data from these losers possibly serve you, jet?" wave asked.

"I've had it up to here with robots and eggman and ALL of it!" vector said, his anger rising. "now, where's my money?"

"YOUR money? I think you mean OUR money!" amy corrected.

"share nice, !" cream nodded.

"ugh, this has turned into a total joke." Knuckles sighed.

I looked at the robot and walked closer to it, shielding my eyes a bit from the smoke, I saw that it was pouring out a lot more smoke than before, so much in fact that I could barely see the darn robot in all that smoke. "hey, uh….does he look funny to you?" I asked everyone.

"ack, look out! He could explode at any minute!" omochao exclaimed. "you guys have GOTTA get out of here!"

I braced myself for the explosion, but instead, it was just a flash of light. Squinting, I saw the robot changing shape. _'hey….so that's a different robot? What kind of robot is it really?'_

After the light vanished and the smoke had cleared, we were able to see the robot's TRUE form, a different robot.

"wha-? M-metal sonic?" eggman said, taken aback.

The robot was indeed metal sonic, and I guessed that he had disguised himself into an E-10000 robot. Even now, the resemblance between me and metal sonic was still a bit creepy to me.

He stood as tall as me exactly, and was painted the same shade of blue as me. His eyes were red, almost blood red. He didn't speak a whole lot, but I had heard him talk before, and his voice REALLY gave me the creeps.

"wait, how did eggman not know it was him already?" I realized.

"my guess is, metal sonic took the data for himself and passed on fake info to eggman!" tails replied.

"nrrrrrrRRGH! You insolent bucket of bolts!" eggman growled at metal sonic.

Metal sonic didn't listen, though, and instead turned to face me, the look in his metallic blood-red eyes challenging.

I stood facing him as well, then realized why metal sonic was doing this."don't tell me, you want…."

"I think metal sonic challenging the real sonic to a race!" omochao said, and I saw metal sonic nod his head.

"don't waste your time. He has all of our data!" eggman said to me. "he'll have calibrated his racing style perfectly. He's unbeatable on a gear, you fool!"

"well, looks like there's still one last race left to run today!" I said, smirking.

Metal sonic then flew to jess and grabbed her and flew off, starting the race, and holding jess as ransom.

"sonic! Help me, please!" jess shouted from metal sonic's grip as she was flown off into the distance. She started clawing and trying to hit metal sonic, hoping she could break free of his grasp. "let me go, you rusted pile of TRASH! Get your hands OFF of me!"

I hopped on my board and flew off after them, and looked up at jess, who was held firmly in metal sonic's arms. I flew faster to catch up, knowing metal sonic would probably hurt her if I didn't win.

And I'm SO not letting that happen to my girl.

"hold on, Jessica….hold on…."


	9. the race against metal sonic

(sonic's pov)

The race was through the whole factory, and considering it was eggman's factory, it was no walk in the park.

I rode through the outside balcony of the factory, then jumped off a small ramp and over the gap in the ground, landing on the other side.

I rode inside the factory, and turned down the hall. Grabbing the long, glowing green pole sticking out of the ground at where a turn was in the hall, I spun around it, my hand grasping it so I wouldn't go flying, then let go once I had enough momentum, speeding down the next turn of the hall. i then entered a metal tube-shaped hall, and jumped off the ramp at the end, which led to the outside of the factory.

"let me GO! Sonic! HELP ME!"

I heard jess' shouts, and looked to see metal sonic still holding her hostage, and I saw that metal sonic was actually on an extreme gear board.

I landed on the metal walkway, then turned and rode it down a bit and turned again. As I rode down the next expanse of the ground, I jumped on a grinding rail and grinded past a turn in the walkway and even closer to metal sonic now. I found another one of those green poles, and spun around it a bit, then let go, speeding down the track.

"don't worry, jess!" I called out to her. "I get ya' back in a flash!"

I rode back into the factory and jumped off a ramp, landing on a road that went up, so I sped up so I wouldn't fall off. The next thing I knew, I had stopped at a door, then flew up and was skydiving in the air over the factory. I skydived through metal railings, dodging the moving claws, and hopped back on my board as I landed back on some ground.

Turning down the path, I jumped off a ramp and landed on a grinding rail, grinding over and past some more of the track. At the end of the new path, I spun on another green pole, then sped down the turn and new path. At the end of the path was a ramp, which I jumped off of, and landed on a walkway outside the factory, and when riding it, led inside the factory.

I could see the finish line just ahead, and I crossed it, finishing the first lap. Now, there's just one more to go.

When the second lap was almost over, when we were just outside of the factory where the finish line was, I saw metal sonic losing speed. Smirking, I sped past him, then saw him try to fly high in the air over me, seeing if he could get past me, but he was still losing power.

"guess you just a heap of junk, huh?" jess asked, laughing as she was still in his grasp.

Seeing metal holding her like how I would hold her….cradling her close to him bridal style….i'll admit it: I got insanely jealous. Hey, I knew jess would NEVER fall for that pile of junk on her own free will, but…..

Metal might fall for her. He IS a robot of me, after all. And he might influence her to fall for him, like, with a mind-control ray of something.

Before now, he just held her over her shoulders, like a rag doll. But now, he held her close to him, like he….was 'in the like' with her, or something.

Jess noticed this, then grew REALLY angry. "hey, you perv! GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME, NOW!"

"you heard the lady!" I yelled up to metal sonic. Man, the two were REALLY high up….

Metal sonic then had an evil look to his electric eyes, then did something that sent my heart to a stop.

He let go of jess, letting her fall in the air, sending her plummeting to her death.

"THIS ISN'T WHAT I MEANT, YOU JUNK HEAP!" she yelled up at metal.

(jess' pov)

I was falling in the air, and I really thought I was gonna die.

But the bone-shattering impact with the ground never came. Instead, I felt something catch me, stopping me from falling.

I looked to see my savior was sonic, holding me bridal style close to him. "whew….that was close." He said, smiling at me. "you okay? That trash pile hurt you at all?"

"no, I'm fine." I said, lowering my head.

"jess, you know I can tell when you're upset."

I sighed. _'that obvious, huh?'_

"jess, what's wrong? I don't like to see you sad."

"well…lately, I feel like we're drifting apart….i still love you, don't get me wrong. I always will. But….throughout this whole grand prix, it feels like you didn't even notice me….for the past month now, we've been spending less and less time with each other….we've been going out with each other for nine months now, and we've never even gone out on our first date! i….i guess I just-"

I never even got to finish, however, because I felt sonic kiss me, cutting off what I was going to say. When he kissed me then….it felt like our first kiss all over again….it was like we were falling in love again….

I sighed happily, continuing our kiss. I knew then, what all over this was about. He was showing me that he still loved me as much as I loved him, which I knew he always did, but now… I knew for sure. It wasn't us drifting apart that made me feel sad, I realized we never even did drift apart, but it was the fact that sonic was always out and around saving the world, and we just hadn't had enough time to ourselves.

When we broke the kiss, we were silent before seeing metal sonic fall from the sky in a trail of smoke, before hitting the ground far away, still intact, but obviously slowed down.

"well, looks like you just won, blue." I said, as he started his board again and rode it to the finish, carrying me the rest of the way.

"heh, yeah. And, hey…..i feel bad, knowing that you felt like we were drifting apart because I couldn't spend time with you, what with eggman and his evil schemes and all…."

I kissed his cheek, making him smile shyly and blush a bit. "think nothing of it, sonic. I'm just happy we can, now."


	10. the end of the grand prix

(jess' pov)

We all had headed back to dolphin resort, after metal sonic had lost the race he had with sonic.

"whew, that was amazing! The title's finally been decided in a white-hot race that had me holding my breath from start to finish! What a rush!" omochao said. Metal sonic stood nearby, not looking to happy with his loss. Then, metal sonic ran off.

"ah! Metal sonic's running away!" omochao exclaimed. We all watched as metal sonic ran out of sight.

"that metal monstrosity just ruined my entire grand prix!" eggman said, looking after where metal sonic had ran off.

"yeah, and whose fault is THAT, again?" knuckles questioned sarcastically.

"so, is it safe to assume that you never had any money OR treasure to give out?" tails asked.

"yeesh. My job would be easier if you shot down your own plots like this more often." Sonic sighed, rolling his eyes.

"ugh, what a rip! Going home empty-handed is going to kill our rep as rouges." Wave sighed.

"I'm real sorry about this, boss." Storm said to jet, his head hung down.

"why?" jet asked. "I actually had a pretty good time, at the end of the day!"

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't see any of this coming." Rouge said.

"the doctor's schemes are hardly anything new." Shadow agreed.

"what, so all that work was pro bono?" vector realized, upset he wasn't getting any money.

"aww, poor …." cream said, feeling bad for him.

"he should be thankful! It's not every day you get to race with two cuties like us!" amy continued. "right, sonic?"

"uh…yeah." He replied, not wanting to anger her. "anyway, it sounds like we all managed to have fun."

Omochao sighed. "once again, the curtains close on the grand prix championship with no clear champion to show for it. but, hey, like sonic says, it was a fun time for everyone involved just the same! Here's looking forward to the next exciting world grand prix! We'll see you there, I'm sure! Until then, omochao here, signing off! Bye!"

After omochao and his camera crew left, we all decided to head back home. I started to walk off, but I was instantly scooped up off the ground.

It was sonic, of course, and I stood behind him on his board, and he grabbed my hands and wrapped them around his shoulders. "want a ride back to your place?"

"sure!" I smiled.

"okay! Hang on, then!" he said, starting up his board. We then took off, riding his board back home.


	11. suddenly

I arrived at tails' workshop and walked to the back, and I looked around. I saw I slight wooded area, and in front it was surrounded by some bushes. Two large trees stood a few feet apart from each other behind the bushes, and I saw a hammock hanging across the two trees, and something was laying in the hammock.

"hello?" I called out as I walked through the bushes and to the form laying in the hammock. I stopped a few feet from the hammock, and, looking closer, saw who it was that was laying in the hammock.

"sonic, there you are! What did you-"

Before I could finish, he turned to me, still lying down in the hammock, and I saw he held an acoustic guitar in his hands. I blushed when I saw his smile, he always seemed to do that to me. He started to play a beautiful melody on his guitar, and it made the mood even more romantic, what with the moonlight gleaming over us.

_"before this magic night falls and fades away,_

_I've got to find the words to steal your heart away."_

It took me few seconds to realize that it was sonic that was singing, continuing to play his guitar while doing so. I just didn't believe it at first, well….because I had never heard him sing before.

_"you're such a vision,_

_Oh baby, listen,_

_I may be puttin' it all on the line_

_I get so weak when I look into your eyes,_

_I feel the heat, baby,_

_I must be hypnotized_

_But if I could, well we both know I would stop the hands of time, here tonight…._

_It seemed when I met you, we'd been here before,_

_that I didn't forget you, on some other shore,_

_Fate was my friend, 'cause she brought you again,_

_Now here you are in my arms….suddenly…."_

I almost wanted to melt when I heard him sing, that's how good he was. I had to do everything in my will power to not gleefully shout out 'WHEEEEEEE!'

He continued to play, but now he climbed out of the hammock and stood leaning on a nearby tree.

_"my heart is blind to other eyes, it seems to just see you_

_ It couldn't fool me, even if I wanted to,_

_your love has saved me, your smile is sacred,_

_I wanna be with you all of my life_

_This is no fantasy, oh no, not anymore,_

_you're much more real to me than anything ever before_

_Now that you're here, it all seems so clear,_

_I'm gonna take the fall, take it all…._

_well, love is forever, as free as the wind,_

_then nothing else matters when it comes again_

_Time is my friend, 'cause she brought you again,_

_now here you are in my arms…._

_it seemed when I met you, we'd been here before,_

_that I didn't forget you, on some other shore,_

_fate was my friend, 'cause she brought you again,_

_now here you are in my arms…."_

In a swift movement, he was standing in front of me, continuing to play his guitar and sing to me, his voice smooth like silk.

_"my love is in motion tonight,_

_and it's time to set it free,_

_cause you're the one, the only one, who could deliver me_

_Your love is an ocean of fire,_

_when you take me to my need, that I will remember, for all eternity…._

_well, love is forever, as free as the wind,_

_then nothing else matters when it comes again_

_Time is my friend, 'cause she brought you again,_

_now here you are in my arms…._

_it seemed when I met you, we'd been here before,_

_that I didn't forget you, on some other shore,_

_fate is my friend, 'cause she brought you again,_

_now here you are in my arms….._

_well, love is forever, as free as the wind,_

_then nothing else matters when it comes again_

_Time is my friend, 'cause she brought you again,_

_ now here you are in my arms…._

_it seemed when I met you, we'd been here before,_

_that I didn't forget you, on some other shore,_

_ fate was my friend, 'cause she brought you again,_

_now here you are in my arms…."_

He set his guitar down, then swept me off my feet and held me tilted in his arms. He leaned forward a bit, then sung the last part of his song.

_"suddenly…."_

When he finished, he set me standing up again, then grasped my hand and walked me over to the hammock, and we both climbed in, both of us sitting up next to each other.

"so….what did you think?"

"sonic….i loved it! I really, really love it! I didn't know you could sing!" I replied.

When I said this, sonic blushed quite a bit, and he laughed shyly, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "yeah….not a whole lot of people know I can sing."

After a while, we both sat talking with each other, about the world grand prix and how things had been beforehand. Soon, we ended up just looking into each other's eyes, lost in each other.

"sonic….."

"jess….."

Sonic then leaned in closer to me, and then kissed me, and I kissed him back. His kisses were soft, almost like a whisper, and I did my best to match them with equal softness. It was like we were kissing away all the chaos from today and just enjoying this time we have together.

Then, the kisses became more urgent, more passionate, and we both moaned in delight. We kissed for about five minutes, only stopping to gasp for air (which was only about twice). when we finally ended our kiss, we both laid down in the hammock, both of us panting.

"heh….some kiss…..huh?" sonic asked, painting in between where he trailed off, then chuckled a bit at the end.

I was still panting a bit, and I replied, "…yeah…I didn't….think you had it in you, blue…."

"neither….did i." he replied, still chuckling a bit. "still….need to catch your breath, too?..."

"….yeah….i can tell….you do, too…." I continued.

We both were soon able to catch our breath, and we both sat up, looking at the beautiful night sky.

"so, sonic…..why'd you do all of this? I mean, with your song and all of that. Don't get me wrong, I love it! I'm just confused as to why you did all of this." I said.

"well….me and tails talked about this for a bit, and…well, we want you to move in with us."

"wh-what….?" I said, too stunned for words.

"we want you to come live with us. We've got an extra room for you at the workshop. Tails thinks of you as a big sister to him, so he'd love it if you came and lived with us. And….you know I'd want you to live with me and tails. i…I really want you to come live with us, jess. I really do." He continued.

I was silent, in thought for a minute, before I smiled. "….yes, sonic, I will come and live with you."

"really? You will? That's great, jess! Me and tails will help you move in." he then climbed out of the hammock, scooping me up into his arms, then took off to the workshop to tell tails the news.


	12. epilog

(jess' pov)

After we had told tails that I was going to be living with him and sonic, we had all spent some time after that moving me and my things into the workshop. We were able to get it done in no time, and soon I was in my new room at the workshop, all of my things unpacked and put into place.

I took in the surroundings of my new room, and I sat on my bed and sighed contently.

"so you like your new room, huh?"

A bit startled, I turned to the voice, then breathed a sigh of relief when I saw who it was. "don't sneak up on me like that, sonic!" I giggled.

"sorry, jess. Didn't mean to scare ya'." Sonic said, chuckling with me.

"it's alright. And yeah, I like my room. I'm glad I get to live with you guys now, too." I continued.

"I'm glad, too." He said, then yawned while stretching. "well, I'm heading off to bed. 'night, jess." With that, he walked down to his room, heading off to bed. After I heard his bedroom door close, I went to take a shower, wanting to just relax.

After I got out of my shower, I wrapped a towel around myself and went to change into my night clothes in my room. Soon, there was a knock on my door, followed by it opening and sonic walking inside.

Normally, when he would walk in, I'd be fine with that. But…I was still changing when he walked in just now….and me without a top on? Yeah….you get the picture. All I have to say, is that I was grateful that my back was turned to him when he walked in, or that would've been WAY embarrassing, what with him seeing me topless. So yes, thank chaos my back was turned to him when he walked in.

"hey, jess, I just wanted to-" he started, before looking at my bare turned back and realizing that he had walked in on me while I was still changing. I froze, and had only one thought:

Man, this is SO awkward.

"AH! SORRY!" he closed the door quickly after that, and I changed into my top, then opened my door to see sonic still standing in front of my door, looking absolutely embarrassed.

"look, I swear, I didn't see anything! I-I'm SO sorry, jess! You know I'd never-"

"calm down! It's alright, I'm not mad, and I know you didn't see anything." I said, trying to calm sonic down. I couldn't help but giggle a bit as I spoke, because seeing him panic like this always made him look funny, seeing him panicking like this.

"you mean that, jess? You're not mad?"

I nodded, still giggling. "I'm not mad, I promise. Please, come in." I said, walking him into my room with me.

"thanks, jess. I still feel real bad about just now, though, and I just wish I could make it up to you somehow…." He said, sighing as we sat down next to each other on the edge of my bed.

"well, don't feel bad. You didn't see anything, so I'm not upset." I said, stroking his hand.

"oh, alright. Well, what I was going to say before...all of that happened, was that I'll be down the hall if you need me. That, and I wanted to say I love you." Sonic said, kissing my cheek. After that, he got up and walked out of my room and to his, closing my door behind him.

I turned off my bedroom light, then climbed into bed, soon drifting off to sleep.


End file.
